Barca only signed Suarez after missing out on Aguero

Mark Holmes
LLuis Suarez: Open to a Liverpool return

Luis Suarez: Open to a Liverpool return

Barcelona tried to sign Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero before landing Luis Suarez from Liverpool, the club’s former sporting director has revealed.

Barca agreed a £75million deal to sign Suarez in 2014, but the Uruguayan was only a back-up target for the Catalans after they failed to sign Aguero.

Andoni Zubizarreta told Marca: “We had a few options. Our first choice was not Suarez — he knows this.

“In the winter, we tried to sign Aguero. But it didn’t come off.

“In this situation, there was no doubt: Luis Suarez became our only objective.”

Not long after Barcelona had first made contact with Liverpool regarding the possibility of signing Suarez, the Uruguay forward bit Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.

However, rather than put them off, Zubizarreta says the incident actually convinced Barca to speed up negotiations.

He added: “During the negotiation process, there was the incident with Chiellini.

“This put a lot of doubt into the minds of the clubs who wanted him.

“His character was being questioned and no one know just how severe the ban would be.

“I thought this was the moment to accelerate the formalities of the signing.”

Suarez scored a hat-trick on Sunday evening as Barca overpowered Athletic Bilbao 6-0.